Traumatized cops could get paid leave

Nanci G. Hutson

Updated 7:21 pm, Thursday, January 10, 2013

NEWTOWN -- For the next six months, the dozen or more police officers who were first responders to the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings will be eligible for paid leave, according to their union.

The durations will be dictated by their personal needs beyond sick and vacation time, the department's union attorney said.

The exact structure for the leave has not been determined, but attorney Eric Brown, who represents the 45-member union, said negotiations are under way, with an understanding that officers who need time off

for emotional injury, or post-traumatic stress related to what they witnessed on Dec. 14, will be covered.

Brown said there is also talk about using donations that have come in from all over the world to benefit first responders and school staff who are suffering in the aftermath of one of the worst school massacres in the nation's history.

"The tricky part is always finding the money,'' Brown said Thursday.

Messages left for Police Chief Michael Kehoe were not immediately returned Thursday.

First Selectman Pat Llodra declined to comment, as she said she is not closely involved in the negotiations.

The Police Commission on Tuesday night unanimously approved a resolution to seek state assistance in changing the workers' compensation law to provide for assistance for officers who have, and will in the future, suffer from the extreme trauma.

Brown said the concern from a policy standpoint is writing legislation that provides a benefit to those impacted by such a severe, but rare event "without setting up the opportunity for abuse.''